It was simply amazing to see the media jump on the Washington Post article today taking Obama completely out of context to make him seem presumptuous. This was a quote from a closed-door meeting with the House Democratic leadership (no reporters) yesterday.
I watched "Morning Joe" and it was certainly amazing to see all the commentary on this and how easily the media were, once again, lead by the nose ring to a story that was completely wrong. Only "Mika" pleaded for a bit of caution but the rest of the commentators keep on with the story as if the quote was fact.
Every major news outlet chased this story. Not one of them thought to actually double check the facts by asking someone who was at the closed-door meeting.
It turns out that the whole quote shows how humble Obama actually is:
It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.
The Washington Post only used the last sentence. Obama deserves a huge apology from the Post and from all the sheep-like media organizations that did not do their homework.
1 comment:
I saw this story today, too. Fortunately on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Mr. Olbermann, of course, provided the complete quote.
American media have gotten so soft, gullible, that it is shameful. This is just another entry on the list of stories they didn't investigate before reporting. It is arguable that the media are as guilty as government officials in the call to war in Iraq and its continuation. All of the evidence that there were no weapons of mass destruction, no Iraqi links with terrorism, no Iraqi attempts and obtaining enriched Uranium, and no immediate Iraqi threats to US security were there before the war. It was all there, and anyone who says otherwise is lying or too lazy to have looked into it for themselves. Where was the media? Reporting as fact what Bush Administration officials were telling them. What a shame.
Does the fact that most major media in the US is owned by multi-national corporations who benefit from a war (ratings) and the Bush administration (corporate friendly government)surprise anyone?
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